R.J. Duarte- Founder of GreenWorx Landscaping
Backyard lawncare businesses are a common entrepreneurial venture among many middle and high schoolers. R.J. Duarte was one of many young people to start a lawncare business; however, his hard work ethic and passion for his business caused him to take it a step further, eventually becoming the founder and CEO of GreenWorx Landscaping.
Duarte grew up in Golden, Colorado, and began mowing lawns for neighbors and friends at age 8. He started out with just a push mower and a little red wagon, soon building up a loyal customer base through his dedication and hard work. After a few years, R.J. partnered with a friend, and their income tripled each year. Once he reached high school, Duarte dubbed his company GreenWorx, branding it as a “premium landscaping-and-maintenance company”. Duarte said, “It’s higher margins for more risk…that comes with headaches, but without headaches, there’s no reward.” This reflects R.J.’s strong work ethic and dedication to becoming better.
Duarte made GreenWorx a full-time job, declining acceptance to Colorado State University. Since then, he has hired additional employees, upgraded tools and equipment, and is now making nearly $750,000 in annual revenue.
According to the GreenWorx website, “when RJ isn’t working, he enjoys mountain biking as a hobby and loves being active outdoors camping, hiking, & traveling.” Duarte took his love of the outdoors and incorporated it into his business, creating an opportunity to not only make money but to work in an environment he enjoys.
Duarte’s story has inspired me to work to the best of my ability, as well as not give up on small ideas. A small backyard business grew into an incredibly profitable company, all because Duarte was driven and persistent in his work.
5 Comments
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This is an intriguing story about how R.J. took a common entrepreneurial path and did it better than most. From running my own landscaping company, I know the biggest barrier to get over is taking the chance and hiring others to do work for you, but R.J. was able to get past this by taking the leap of faith on himself to lead his crews & trust others to do as good of a job as he can. This could help me to also take the risk on myself and hire others to work for me, so I am able to add more clients & care for more lawns.
I really like how Duarte was creative and persistent and took a big risk by not going to college that ended up paying off for him, allowing him to receive a lot more money and solve a lot more problems than if he had gone to college. This shows that for some people, college is not the best path and that it pays off to be persistent with your business ideas.
Wow! What an amazing story of how taking a risk can make such an impact on your life. I think Duarte’s decision to refuse going to college was a huge leap of faith but one that very clearly paid off. I think that this is a very common and needed quality in entrepreneurs, to succeed you need to take risks. Duarte is a perfect example of this!
This is really cool how he didn’t give up on an early job he had in his childhood. I’m sure there were probably a lot of people trying to convince him to abandon the business to go to college. It’s also inspiring how he partnered with one of his friends and is able to effectively succeed professionally and relationally.
It is amazing how R.J Duarte started with very limited supplies at a young age and grew Greenworx Landscaping into a successful business. I like especially how he stuck with landscaping and expanded it. My only suggestion is that he should make a little red wagon his company symbol!